Trey Songz asks judge to throw out $11 million battery judgement
Trey Songz was ordered to pay $11million in November relating to a battery case filed in 2023. However, the singer has now asked the judge to throw out the default judgment, claiming it will “ruin his life.”
Maryland Capitol police officer Tyrelle Dunn claimed he was injured by the artist and his security guard while trying to rescue his wife from Songz’s hotel room at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas in 2021, resulting in a fractured eye socket.
Songz allegedly brought a group of women back to his hotel room, with Dunn alleging his wife screamed for help and said she was being held against her will. The ‘Bottoms Up’ musician was believed to be celebrating his 37th birthday at Drai’s Nightclub that night.
“[Dunn’s] wife was escorted by Defendant security personnel to room 6014 where she was told she would meet Trey Songz,” the lawsuit read. “That while in room 6014, plaintiff’s wife was assaulted, tried to leave and had her phone taken away.”
The police investigated the incident but no criminal charges were brought against Songz. In his motion, Songz said he was clueless about the lawsuit until he heard about it through the media.
“Good cause exists to set aside the default judgement because [Dunn] did not properly effectuate service of process of the summons and complaint on [Songz] pursuant to Nevada or California law,” his lawyer wrote, according to In Touch Weekly. “[Songz] did not know about this lawsuit until a few days ago, on November 27th, 2024, upon which he promptly engaged counsel and filed this Motion.”
He continued, “[Songz] promptly engaged civil defence counsel over the Thanksgiving holiday and filed this Motion to set aside the default judgement the next week. [Songz] deserves to have his day in court to defend himself, rather than being subjected to a massive default judgement which was improperly obtained in an underlying case that [Songz] knew nothing about until a week prior to filing this Motion.
Songz’s lawyer detailed the impact that the lawsuit would have on his life, continuing to defend his client after the police allegedly couldn’t find any evidence.
“The enforcement of this default judgement will be devastating to [Songz] and will ruin his life,” he said. “[Dunn] reported the incident to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The police immediately went to the suite at the Cosmopolitan Hotel to investigate—they separated witnesses and took their statements, confiscated mobile phones, and obtained a search warrant of [Songz’s] DNA and other evidence.”
He added, “Over the next several months, the police conducted a thorough criminal investigation and found no wrongdoing by [Songz]. The District Attorney’s office did not file any charges.” Following the motion from Songz, Dunn reportedly demanded the singer’s plea to be rejected.